President Visits China

President Choummaly Sayasone commenced a week-long visit to China on September 6 as the guest of his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. The Lao People's Democratic Republic has traditionally been politically aligned with fellow Communist one-party state Vietnam and conducted most of its trade with Thailand. However, Laos's exports to China grew ten-fold between 2001 and 2007 and over the same time period as Chinese investment into Laos has increased rapidly. However, Chinese purchases of land has caused some concern among Laotians fearing that the small land-locked country will be absorbed by its larger northern neighbour. We find it likely that

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